During his nine seasons as head coach of the Flyers, Anthony Grant has continued what’s been a winning culture in Dayton. The program had perhaps their best season ever shortened by the pandemic and despite all that winning have just one trip to the NCAA Tournament under Grant’s leadership. Regardless, the Flyers remain a winning program and are coming off a 25-win season that included an NIT appearance.
However, things will look very different next season as Dayton looks to build on their momentum. A number of key pieces have graduated and the Flyers did lose De’Shayne Montgomery to Louisville as well, but it’s no disaster in Dayton. The Flyers return 7-footer Amael L’Etang after showing great promise in his sophomore season, while a significant number of depth pieces return in what should be larger roles.
They’re bringing in a really brilliant recruiting class for an A-10 school, getting a Top 100 prospect in Aiden Derkack and another 4-star in power forward Cody Peck. There’s a slew of transfer additions as well, perhaps highlighted to some by Zaide Lowery, a former Marquette forward expected to play a big role. Former Cincinnati forward Jalen Haynes joins the fold alongside a decent scorer in Quinnipiac’s Grant Randall and a few other names.
One of those notable additions is Travis Perry and there’s certainly reason for excitement with him coming to Dayton. A former Top 100 prospect, he’s a 6-1 combo guard form Eddyville, Kentucky who spent his first two collegiate campaigns in the SEC. Perry was a backup as a freshman at Kentucky before finding more of a role at Ole Miss, averaging 5.3 points and 1.6 rebounds in limited minutes last year.
Perry was a massively successful athlete at the high school level, becoming the top scorer in Kentucky high school history, but he hasn’t quite had that opportunity to shine in the college game. After these less exciting roles in the SEC, Perry steps up into a Dayton program and has every opportunity to be a lead scorer and playmaker for the Flyers, especially after this team has lost so much of its backcourt presence in the offseason.
With this impressive haul, Dayton has the talent to be a top contender in the A-10 once again, but this should be a surprise to nobody. It’s all about if these new playmakers can get the Flyers back in the NCAA Tournament once again. A lot of pressure falls on Perry living up to these expectations and we’ll see just what kind of player he can become as an A-10 guard this season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google